First few Article Sentences
On April 18, 2016, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) updated its criteria for exercising its permissive exclusion authority against individuals and entities involved in false claims, kickbacks or other fraud and abuse violations.
Section 1128(b)(7) of the Social Security Act (42 USC 1320a-7) allows the OIG to exclude individuals and entities from participating in any federal health care programs (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and CHIP) on various grounds relating to fraud and abuse. Federal health care programs will not pay for any items or services that are furnished, ordered or prescribed by an excluded individual or entity. Furthermore, a health care provider that directly or indirectly receives payment from any federal health care program will be precluded from employing an excluded individual except in limited circumstances. This policy statement revises nonbinding criteria from the OIG’s 1997 policy statement.